"Their total number should be no less than fifty, and their firepower is very fierce!" Kuroshima Kiichi lowered his head and answered truthfully.

"Fifty tanks and combat vehicles?" Hisao Tani smiled indifferently when he heard this: "How powerful can the firepower be? How is it compared to the tanks and combat vehicles of our 6th Division?"

Kuroshima raised his head and glanced at Hisao Tani and Toshio Takuri, then quickly lowered his head and said: "Please forgive me for speaking bluntly, the tanks of the China Army are far superior to our tanks in terms of size and firepower.

Moreover, the machine guns equipped on their armored vehicles are also very powerful and the rate of fire is astonishingly fast. At least I have never seen such a sophisticated and powerful vehicle-mounted machine gun!"

When Kuroshima Kiichi said this, what flashed through his mind was the horrific scene of independent brigade tanks and armored vehicles raining bullets wildly on his cavalry.

Thinking of the tragic death of his subordinates, with no way to fight back, Kuroshima Muichi couldn't help but shudder, not even a little bit of the arrogance and arrogance he had before.

Hisao Tani frowned when he heard this, and said in a cold voice: "More powerful than the tanks and chariots of the Imperial Army? The troops in the China Army that can be equipped with tanks and armored vehicles have been completely annihilated by the Imperial Army on the Songhu battlefield.

.

Where did they get so many tanks and vehicles?"

Of course Kuroshima Kiichi couldn't answer this, because he couldn't answer it at all.

Chief of Staff Tajiu Toshio pondered: "General, since the China Army is equipped with a certain scale of tanks, armored combat vehicles and other advanced equipment, I think our next offensive operations must be cautious and we must not underestimate the enemy!

The defeat of the 1st Cavalry Group is a warning to us. From this perspective, the failure of the 1st Cavalry Group is valuable."

Hisao Tani glanced at him coldly, then turned to look at the frightened Kuroshima Kiichi in front, and sternly ordered: "Lieutenant Colonel Kuroshima, I will give you one more chance to atone for your sins. You will lead an infantry brigade later.

Launch the first wave of attacks on the Chinese Army positions, I hope you will not disappoint me!"

Kuroshima suddenly raised his head in surprise, looked at Hisao Tani and Toshio Takuri, and immediately stood up to attention and accepted the order happily: "Hai, thank you General for not killing. Kuroshima will fight to the death with all his strength for the sake of the entire division.

Fight this first battle well!"

"Well, know your shame and then be brave. I'm looking forward to your performance!" Hisao Tani nodded slightly and waved his hand to indicate.

After Kuroshima Kiichi saluted again, he turned around, mounted his horse, and excitedly turned around and left.

…

At the Wuxi forward position, Xu Wen asked the defensive troops of the first regiment to send some soldiers to clean up the battlefield. He, Zhou Weiguo and others quickly withdrew into the city with the tank battalion and air defense battalion.

The tank battalion and the anti-aircraft battalion are the only mechanized troops of the independent brigade, and they are also the most powerful ace troops currently in Xu Wen's hands. After a one-hit kill, they will naturally not stay too long at the front, giving the Japanese an opportunity for air strikes.

After returning to the city, Xu Wen asked Fang Shengli and Li Wu to lead the tank battalion and air defense battalion respectively to disperse and hide to prevent enemy fire retaliation.

He and Zhou Weiguo returned to the brigade headquarters and took command in preparation for the formal Japanese attack.

Both Xu Wen and Hisao Tani know that the battle just now can be regarded as an appetizer, and the real contest between the two sides is still to come.

About half an hour later, Hisao Tani, Toshio Tajiu and others led the main force of the 6th Division and arrived in the south of Wuxi one after another.

As mentioned before, because there is a canal to the northwest of Wuxi, it is not conducive to the deployment and attack of Japanese troops.

Therefore, the south and east of the city became the 6th Division's best choice for a frontal attack.

The open terrain south of the city was the best direction for the Japanese army to attack.

Based on this, after Hisao Tani arrived with the main force of the division, he immediately ordered Major General Tokutaro Sakai, the commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade, to personally lead the 13th and 47th Regiments of the 11th Infantry Brigade to feign an attack on the Wuxi defenders.

The eastern defense line of the city.

And when necessary, divide the troops and go to the north of Wuxi City to cut off the retreat route of the defenders in the city to escape north!

He himself, together with Major General Mitsuru Ushijima, commander of the 36th Infantry Brigade, commanded the two main infantry regiments, the 23rd and 45th, as well as the division's direct cavalry, artillery, baggage troops, tanks and armored troops, engineer regiments and other main forces.

, responsible for launching a frontal attack from the south of the city.

After the artillery regiment has established its artillery position, several other major regiments have also set up their positions and are ready for the attack.

Hisao Tani transferred a full infantry brigade from the 23rd Infantry Regiment and handed it over to Lieutenant Colonel Kuroshima Kiichi, asking him to lead another attack on the forward position of the regiment south of Wuxi City.

With the lesson learned last time, Kuroshima Kiichi did not dare to be too big this time. After bringing his troops up, he first carefully dug an offensive position and placed the 12 Type 92 heavy machine guns equipped with this brigade in the trench fortifications.

.

As well as 27 crooked-handled light machine guns, two Type 92 infantry guns, and more than 20 grenade launchers and other heavy firepower, all were set up and arranged.

Only then did an infantry squad of more than fifty people be sent again, led by an infantry second lieutenant, to launch a tentative attack on the forward position of the 1st Regiment of the Independent Brigade.

This is a routine operation in the Japanese offensive tactics. Generally, during the first attack, the Japanese army will send a small team, a squadron, or a large group of troops as a tentative offensive force, depending on the scale of the battle.

It is used to attract the defenders to expose their firepower, so that their artillery and other heavy firepower units can target and create opportunities.

Once one's own heavy firepower troops have completed the lock-in, they can then use their artillery superiority to carry out fixed-point clearing bombing on the important firepower points of the defenders.

Generally speaking, the national army will be fooled. This seemingly simple tactic of the Japanese is always successful on the Chinese battlefield.

Because as long as the defenders' light and heavy machine guns and even artillery firepower points are eliminated, then it will be impossible to stop the Japanese attack with heavy fire cover such as tanks, artillery, and heavy machine guns.

What's more, the Japanese army's tactical coordination and the number of light weapons such as light machine guns and grenade launchers far exceeded that of the Chinese army. Therefore, in battles between the Chinese and Japanese armies, the Chinese army often ended in a disastrous defeat.

However, the independent brigade that the Japanese encountered now was no longer an ordinary national defense force.

Both Zhou Weiguo, who returned from studying in Germany, and Xu Wen, a time traveler, are well aware of the Japanese tactics of infantry charging, artillery bombardment, and artillery bombing the infantry before charging again, and they all have experience in dealing with them.

Therefore, the Japanese's exploratory attack was destined to fail.

Before the Japanese attack was launched, Xu Wen had directly dialed the number of the infantry company in charge of forward defense and directly commanded the Sichuan captain: "If the Japanese only send a small force of dozens of people to attack you,

, remember not to expose all your firepower, especially heavy machine guns, don't fire.

Don't panic, let the soldiers calm down, let the little Japs get within thirty meters of the trenches, and beat him son of a bitch hard with grenades, light machine guns, and rifles!"

"Yes, brigade commander, I understand your humble position! I know it!" The captain and company commander suddenly accepted the order. After hanging up the phone, he immediately drew his gun and shouted in a deep voice: "Listen to everyone, Xiao Dongyang will not go within thirty meters.

, No firing! No heavy machine guns are allowed to fire without my order!
Chapter completed!